dagies

I'm working hard to look for positives as I've great concern for the rest of the season the way things have gone the last month. However, maybe there could be a silver lining. As Sprig said, we'll be in battle for position the rest of the way. IF we had put ourselves in position to "coast" down the stretch, could we have turned it up at tourney time? I wonder if that wasn't a factor in the downfall of the 2 late 90's teams that struggled in the Final Five and beyond... Maybe some good can come of this down the road.

Who cares about keeping the #1 ranking. The one of the good things about losing is maybe getting that anchor from around our throats. The other is that any points WI and SCSU get make it that much hard for MN to finish in the top 3. I don't disagree that we can't take the gas pipe as fans at this point, but we've struck a point in the schedule where we're not dominating the 3rd period like we had been. And it is the wrong time of the season for that to happen. Not too late to fix things.

Hey, it certainly gives him a level of credibility.

I'm not sure but it is possible Chorney signed his LOI, in which case they could talk about him.

Blais cannot comment on a recruit until they sign an LOI I believe. Hennessey could have said something but they've had issues with talking about recruits before so why even bring it up? My guess is that was just left alone for its own good.

Thanks again PCM! (Nice meeting you this weekend)

Hey, I appreciate the skinny. I just don't get my hopes up based on posts on the internet unless they are from proven posters.

If his father actually said that, I would believe it. The point is that the person reporting this hasn't had a lot of opportunity to show through previous experiences on the board that their information is on the up and up. I'm not saying I don't believe it. I'm just saying that anyone can come on these boards and say anything they want. It might sound legit, but the rest of us really don't know. Some posters have been around long enough, and have a track record of providing information that has turned out to be accurate in the long run. They have developed credibility. Others, possibly only due to the fact they have not had opportunity to provide information in the past don't have that track record that brings with it credibility. It doesn't mean I don't believe them. I just will wait for more confirmation from other sources before I rely on the information. My comments weren't meant as disrespect to anyone.

Well, that and spelling...

I'm not an expert but the little I was able to find out was cable modem is faster than DSL. I'm in the cities so my rate info probably isn't relevant. To be honest, I don't know the rate differences between cable and DSL.

Holy smokes.

there is a post on USCHO by moose97 saying: This isn't a good enough source for me to depend on, but it's enough to get hopeful. Maybe there'll be some more official word soon ala Brian Lee's commitment so we can be done with the speculation. Maybe we can check POI for a confirmation.

That's pretty good. They can have their championship in '06. Then it will be 8>6

I don't remember which player it was but one of the Sioux women got a penalty for "body checking" which I thought really added to the game because I like a more physical contest. So I yelled out "GOOD FOR HER!" Man, the accoustics in that place are pretty good. That echoed around pretty good in there!

Got my cable modem just in time!

Amen brother. I used to scream the Who's He He Sux! chant back in the '80's. I WON'T yell the new chear with the added word on the end in public (and I've got a filthy mouth in private). I would yell the sux ending around the student section. I WON'T yell it surrounded by my kid, or the old lady sitting next to me. ANYONE who says screaming vulgarity is somehow intimidating at sporting events is nuts IMHO. Being loud, chanting something simple, and chanting it together is what is intimidating to the opposition and motivating for the home team. That is why I could not care less with fans of other teams make fun of us for "Let's Go Sioux". It ain't the most clever thing, but when you get 10,000 people screaming it the energy in the building steps up a notch.

A little press for Spiewak and Notermann: http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article.php?s...hreaded&order=0

While up in GF we had a chance to take in part of the women's game against Findlay on Sat. We couldn't stay for the whole game but got to watch a period of play. I have to say it was pretty good. It's not the same speed as the men's game but for less knowledgeable hockey fans like myself it was a bit easier to see the plays develop and what the teams were trying to accomplish on the ice. Some of those women can really play too. But I was surprised at how quiet the crowd was. There were only a few hundred people there on Sat. We tried to get the "Let's Go Sioux" chant going but there were only about a half-dozen of us that wanted to play along. Was surprised that no one seemed like they wanted to get involved. Would have been fun to get the crowd revved up and making noise. I suppose it wasn't necessary as the women went on to beat Findlay for their 6th straight win. Anyway, good job for the women's team. Their winning streak was snapped Sunday in a 3-1 loss to Findlay, but they are really coming on. Best of luck to them.

I wasn't as adventerous as some of you but here are my picks now that things are clearing up a bit. UND 28 43 UMD 28 40 UMN 28 35 SCSU 28 31 UW 28 31 AA 28 25 Denver 28 23 CC 28 20 Mankato 28 19 MTech 28 13 I think the Sioux are easily in the driver's seat for the McNaughton, and this scenario allows them to split 3 of their remaining 5 series, with Duluth splitting I think just 2 series and sweeping the rest. I don't believe SCSU or WI are serious threats to get on a big roll the way they are playing, and MN just has too far to go. So my question is, can we stay sharp for the postseason? I still have nightmares of 1997-98 and 1998-99.

I think this too. Zach Parise was critical of the team on Saturday, saying they all didn't come to play. What I'm hoping is that later in the year, with one-and-out games the team will not have the second game let-down we seem to be seeing lately.

A couple of thoughts on the weekend: 1. If anyone has a chance to make the Sioux booster lunch on Friday's of home games I highly recommend it. This was our first one and Gwoz was a great speaker, and fun to listen to Blais too. Gwoz is very engaging, and fun to listen to. 2. Sat. night....I think DU woke up a little, and there might be something to jk's comments about beating a team badly 3 times in a row (with the third a complete thrashing) that maybe causes you to lose your edge a bit. DU played much harder, and played a much better defensive game. Because of that they created a lot more offensive opportunity, maybe their transition game was just working a bit better but they definitely had more jump saturday night. The Sioux crowd was also asleep on Sat. Maybe after the bitter temps on Friday people were just happy to be alive but until 10 min left in the 3rd on Sat. everybody was just happy to be there, and it seemed like that team played the same way. With 10 min left in the 3rd, the place started lighting up. I no longer retain any of the critical game instances that occured at that time, but there were some inspired plays on the ice (not even counting JPar) and some work by the Ralph crew and the band and the fans to generate some life in the crowd. Finally it all came together and the end of the game was electric. Still if it was not for Parise it could have been a loss. He made some outstanding saves right there at the end. Stafford played a more energetic game on Sat than on Friday I thought. Adam did a pretty good job all weekend. I thought he missed one blatant call on Friday when Parise broke in alone and had his stick held half way through the offensive zone. On Sat he let got a trip by Porter and a pretty obvious penalty by another Sioux player later in the game. In the end, I think we got the benefit of the calls vs. the poor end. Still, there were few calls to be made except for a few in the second period. Pretty clean hockey by both teams, and considering our criticism of Denver in the past, I certainly would say they looked like a different team this weekend. Bochenski had a pretty quiet game on Sat. Didn't look like the superman he's looked in some other games I've seen lately. Fylling was really scooting along. Fabian played a did a pretty good job out there. He had a couple of decent chance that he couldn't quite convert on, and if he could have caught a pass would have gone in alone against Berkhoel. Would have been fun to see. I said last week it seemed like Murray was 6 inches away from making some special plays and this weekend he was about right there, and I'm talking about some other plays besides just a couple of goals. He's awfully good out there. Our Money line is really something to watch, people. If you have a chance to see some games this year, you need to get there to watch them. Murray, Parise, and Bo will put on a show for you. We have some good players and good lines, but you can tell when this trio is on the ice. Even if they had no numbers on their jerseys, you could see the difference. The talent and intensity is really something. I had a chance to meet PCM. Nice to meet you sir! Thanks again for the work you do for us Sioux fans. I am concerned that we are getting a bit tired out. For the 3rd if not 4th game in a row we've not dominated the 3rd period. Yes, we won the MN game in the 3rd but that was on Power Plays. I hope we are not getting fatigued. Speaking of the PP, there were times this weekend, especially on Friday when it could rule the world. Wow. There were other times......... Forecheck, I see you had some more camera time on Saturday. Good for you. Good signs all! Time to go. I've bored you all.

I agree with much of Farce Poobah had to say. Just got back today from a fun weekend in GF of hockey with good friends. I would say that I think Stafford looked a bit slow on Friday. I wonder if he's getting tired out. I wasn't too surprised to see him placed on a different line on Sat and I thought he played a bit better. I think Schneider is looking better than when I saw him in St. Cloud. Handled the puck with more authority this weekend I thought. Fun game to watch, nice to see the boys dominate from start to finish. And Parise........Wow. He works so hard, every shift. And what FP said about killing penalties.

My own opinion on the matter is that there is nothing "going on" with Brandt as some have implied above. Here's my perception of the situation: Back during the Tech series, I think, Blais said he was going to give Jake the chance to take over the #1 slot. He played ok, but not great in the Friday night game. Had he played great I think Blais was going to play him the next night. Instead, Parise got the nod and shut out Tech. The next weekend both Jake and Jordan played well at MN. Very evenly. Now Parise was starting to put consecutive weeks of excellent games. Parise plays Friday against Denver and looked great again. Add that to a week of excellent practice and I think Blais decided to see if he could do it back to back, which he did. Basically, I believe Blais is looking for one guy to rise to the top, to be the go-to guy down the stretch (can I use any more cliches?). My guess is Jordan might be locking that up right now, and Jake will be the guy spelling Jordan from time to time. That's my guess. But who cares, we got a couple of guys playing very well right now in nets, and that's something Sioux fans can smile about.

I think "First Team All-American" covers some of that.